


Fate in the Cat's Paws

by dracodormit



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Bookstores, Cat, Crush, Drarry, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 07:06:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9310535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracodormit/pseuds/dracodormit
Summary: Draco Malfoy is a frustrated teenager with a crush. Unsure of his own actions, he happens to stumble upon a comfortable bookstore and an annoyingly cuddly white cat.





	

Forever alone…

_Outcast…_

_Freak…_

The words keep repeating inside Draco’s head. The confused seventeen-year-old hugs his knees closer to his body and closes his grey eyes. Draco’s tense shoulders start trembling as tears fill his eyes. The pressure, the fear and mockery is too much for the frail mind of his. Draco quietly wonders what happened to him. He used to be stronger and more confident. But with his family not accepting him as he is, the pressure has broken Draco.

With one last hollow cry erupting from his chest, Draco forces himself to calm down and lifts his head. The shoulders tense again and his lean body discloses from the previous position. Draco stands up and wipes the tears fiercely away from his cheeks. The insecurity caused by him family and friends is replaced by rage. He wants to show them that being attracted to men is not a bad thing. But most of all, he wants to forget about his stupid crush on Harry Potter and find himself a decent guy to be with.

Glancing at the old clock on his nightstand, Draco heads towards the door of his spacious room. Having dealt with enough verbal abuse from everyone, he is determined to change his self-pity to self-love. The night is still young as Draco exits the dark family manor. The heavy coat draped over his body is keeping Draco warm in the cold wintery evening as he heads towards his unknown destination. Cold wind brushes against him as he walks along the Thames. Unsure of where exactly to go, Draco continues with his pointless walk across London. The streets are quite busy and since Draco is still a bit emotionally overwhelmed, the people make him nervous. He keeps dodging the busy shoppers and once or twice actually bumps into random strangers.

 _‘This is leading nowhere,’_ Draco says to himself as the walk seems pointless to him. Randomly picking his final destination with just a sharp turn to the left, Draco happens to enter a small and comfortable bookstore. The first thing he does is nearly killing himself by tripping over a step. Draco quickly regains his balance and fixes his coat awkwardly. He glances around to check if anyone saw the clumsy embarrassment and is relieved when he sees that the attention isn’t on him.

But the place surprises him. Besides being a bookstore, there are also coffee-tables and comfortable chairs laid around. Draco immediately likes the ambient even though quite some amount of people is in it. Some, he notices are reading books while others are talking quietly to each other. Just as Draco wants to take a step to the last empty table, a white cat appears next to his left leg. The fluffy cat purrs and brushes itself against his black jeans. Usually, Draco would curse at the animal and hate the fact that it just left the trail of white hair on his jeans, but right then he doesn’t seem to mind.

He crouches down next to the cat and pats its head. The white cat looks up to him, purrs and then walks off to the empty sofa. Draco decides to follow the kind cat and sits down on the old, worn-off sofa. The cat jumps up and lies on his lap. Draco gulps and smiles a bit. Petting the cat, Draco looks around once again. He searches for any familiar faces and is relieved once he doesn’t recognize anyone. Or so he thinks. It’s not until a guy shifts in his seat a few tables over and the mop of black hair falls away from his face. Draco’s gut immediately clenches as he recognises the glasses and the face of Harry Potter.

Fear settles in Draco’s gut. Even though he isn’t completely sure if the word about his sexuality and his crush on Potter has gotten out yet, Draco is terrified to think that Harry knows. Realizing that he is staring, he quickly looks down at the white cat on his lap. Draco tries to keep his attention to the cat even though he is constantly battling himself not to look at Harry and search for his bright green eyes.

At some point Draco gets a feeling that he is being watched so he looks up to find Harry’s eyes trained on Draco. He gulps and blood rushes to his pale cheeks. Feeling a bit uncomfortable under Harry’s kind gaze, Draco looks away. The cat on Draco’s lap suddenly stands up and digs its claws in Draco’s thighs as it stretches lazily. Draco hisses at the pain and scrunches his face. The cat looks up at Draco innocently and meows quietly. Draco wants to glare at it but refrains himself. Taking that as a sign of kindness, the cat rubs her head against Draco’s chest and then jumps off the sofa.

Feeling slightly disappointed, Draco looks after the cat and sees that it is now settled in Harry’s lap. Gulping, he wonders if he should just leave the place instead of staying. But once Harry looks up and meets Draco’s eyes again and smiles at that, Draco decides to stay. And not just stay… Gathering the courage Draco actually approaches Harry, who still has his green eyes trained on him.

“Hi,” Draco greets quietly and Harry grins kindly at him.  
“Hello! You’re going to the same high school as me, right?”  
Draco nods, knowing that they don’t actually know each other besides seeing one another during breaks in the hallway and sometimes sharing a class.

“I’m Harry!”  
The cheerfulness in Harry’s voice gives Draco hope that the rumours hadn’t spread out yet. “Nice to meet you, I’m Draco.”

“I know, I heard about you from my friends,” Harry explains and Draco gulps. That’s not what he wants to hear, honestly.  
“Uhm…” All the confidence he usually has, suddenly disappears from Draco. It truly isn’t like him to be nervous and shy.

Harry laughs. “Don’t worry; I haven’t actually heard anything bad.”  
Draco sighs in relief and smiles. The cheerfulness makes Harry’s green eyes glow and Draco can feel the knot in his stomach. Sensing his feelings, the white cat stretches from Harry’s lap onto Draco’s and meows. Draco looks at it and smiles, petting its head once again.

Harry does the same and for a short moment their hands brush together. Draco gulps and looks at Harry, whose cheeks are flushed red just as Draco’s. Suddenly the urge to kiss Harry is too big to resist and Draco leans in. Harry, who is having the exact same thoughts and who has also had his eyes on Draco for a while now, closes his eyes and leans in as well. Their lips brush gently and as the confidence returns to Draco, he presses his lips closer to Harry’s. The kiss is short and gentle, yet it leaves both of them satisfied. Draco opens his eyes to find Harry looking at him with a smile on his face and a sparkle in his green eyes. Draco’s cheeks flush even more as Harry’s eyes flicker to his lips for a second.

“So, Draco, do you think it’s finally time for us to go on a date?”


End file.
